Illumination of veritas
386 AD converted to
Saint Augustine converts to Christianity, which was preceded and accompanied by a profound intellectual and spiritual experience where he understood God as the unchanging Truth.
This event marks the culmination of his long search for truth through Manichaeism and Neo-Platonism, and specifically refers to a moment of "intellectual light" where he realized that God is the light that illuminates the human mind, leading him to abandon his life of sin.
The Conversion Experience took place in a garden in Milan, often associated with the phrase "Take up and read" (tolle, lege), which led him to read St. Paul and accept Christian truth, changing his inner life from darkness to light.
Augustine experienced God as the "inner teacher" (magister interior) that allows human beings to perceive the truth, not as external information, but as an internal light that enlightens the intellect.
In his Confessions, this moment is remembered when he realizes that the Truth he was searching for in the external world was actually within him, prompting the famous line: "You were with me, and I was not with you... You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness".
This event represents the transition from his skepticism to an acceptance of the Christian faith, which he believed was made possible through the "grace" of God enlightening his mind.
In art (such as the painting by Philippe de Champaigne), this event is often depicted with Augustine holding a burning heart (love) and looking up towards a light (veritas/truth).
Subjects Who or What converted to?
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Augustine of Hippo (Saint Augustine, Augustinus) The bishop of Hippo Regi...
Events in 386 MORE
